Here are today's headlines:

'Spirit and drive' of Northampton High's Class of '22 hailed

NORTHAMPTON - The Northampton High School Class of 2022 graduated Sunday in a ceremony marked by reflections on determination, loss, and the students' history of high-visibility activism through hard and uncertain times.School and city leaders handed out 320 diplomas during the 3 p.m. ceremony at Sm...

Triumphant return: South Hadley High's grads reflect on pandemic, remember the positive

SOUTH HADLEY - Graduation ceremonies are often filled with excitement, the buzz in the air palpable. But for graduating South Hadley High School seniors at Friday's commencement, the day was particularly special."This was our first year of normalcy," said Julia Plotniak, the National Honor Society...

'We pushed through': Hampshire Regional grads celebrate 50 years of tradition at commencement

WESTHAMPTON - Fifty years of tradition and community were on full display at Hampshire Regional High School's graduation ceremony Friday night, as members of the first graduating class of 1972 joined family, friends, students, and staff in celebrating the class of 2022.Dressed in red graduation robe...

'In hardship we found strength': Smith Academy fetes 40 grads

HATFIELD - "I'm nervous and excited!" said Smith Academy senior Amanda Novak, minutes before she was to address the crowd at her graduation Friday night in her capacity as Third Honors. Her mission: come up with something to say about each of her 40 classmates."Not that hard," she said with a laugh....

All-State Track: Frontier's Jack Vecellio (pole vault), South Hadley's Jonas Clarke (100 meters) set new state records (PHOTOS)

WESTFIELD – Jack Vecellio stared at the bar as he descended.The Frontier Regional senior clipped it with his right knee on his way over attempting to break the state pole vault record he's chased since seventh grade."I touched it a little bit, so I was scared on my way down," Vecellio said.That fear...

Best Bites with Robin Goldstein: Margaritas and Mexican food, a feast for the senses

Restaurants can serve so many different purposes in our lives: a romantic date, a business lunch, a family reunion. But even on the most ordinary Tuesday night, a great restaurant meal is a voyage, an escape from everyday life, a faraway vacation that can be conveniently located only a few minutes...

Freeing music from prison: Florence concert to debut jazz composed behind bars and finally seeing the light of day

For many years, Lois Ahrens has been pushing to change the nation's prison system. The Northampton activist, who heads the Real Cost of Prisons Project, has worked with fellow activists, artists, researchers and incarcerated people to try to end extreme sentencing such as life imprisonment without...

Girls lacrosse: OT goal lifts East Longmeadow past Northampton for Class B title (PHOTOS)

SPRINGFIELD – Saturday's Western Mass. Class B final was a rollercoaster for the Northampton girls lacrosse team. The No. 2-seeded Blue Devils trailed 13-12 with less than a minute to play, playing defense while No. 1 East Longmeadow tried to put in an insurance goal. A turnover with 40 seconds to...